Sunday’s 10 Random Thoughts

1. Rick is back posting as we all thought he would. There is no way someone like Rick was going to stop posting. There are some that are born to speak and he is one of them. Fortunately he has great things to say but I do find that most people born to speak were not necessarily born to listen (he’s a listener or he couldn’t have done what he’s done). A trait I am trying to work on. On a side note I loved his recent article about his purchases. Great story but not going to be very inspiring to the average domain investor as he has spent $6.5 million on domains. I think it’s more of a 1% story. I don’t think anybody disagrees that you can make money in today’s market but good names are expensive. Even back in 1996.

2. There is a BIG problem with Godaddy Auctions. There is not much they can do but as long as the owners have time to renew the domains AFTER the auction ends. There is always going to be the domainers that email the original owner to remind them to renew and hope to buy it cheaper than the auction. Until there is a fix, the higher the price, the larger chance the buyers aren’t going to get the name.

3. I have almost the same amount of readers without writing forced posts and meaningless dribble. Shows once again writing articles to fill space and get pageviews does nobody any good.

4. Don’t believe anyone who tells you there is nothing in it for them. There IS ALWAYS something in it for them. Even if if the only reward is that it makes them feel good. Humans are self gratifying by nature. Some are driven by money, some by connections with others, and others with the emotional returns. There is nothing wrong with any of these and if a person puts forth effort there should, and will always be some kind of reward or otherwise they would have done something else. This is not a negative thought but rather to make people realize that rewards don’t always have to be paid in money. Money pays the bills but smiles and lack of worry pays the mind.

5. The best stuff in our industry isn’t publicly discussed. There are some fantastic ideas and money making strategies but they are not going to be shared. You’re certainly not going to read about them on the blogs. While the blogs are very open and certainly share great info, if you really want to learn you’ll have to develop relationships with others in your industry and have personal discussions. How do you do this? Go where they meet or set up meetings. Conferences are a great start. Emails work as well. The key is to not be a brain picker or an ideal stealer but rather a sharer.

6. Everyone needs a mentor in every business. To find someone that is a friend that has been there, done that, is worth more than any paid education can offer.

7. Despite the crazy ass life she led and the people she hurt, the Whitney Houston funeral was absolutely beautiful. As a man that grew up down south, it brought back great memories of my Southern Baptist raising. The singing, the sermons, the emotion. Sunday was an event, the most important day of the week. Houston’s funeral shows that those around us love us unconditionally. Often we have no idea how many people we influence on a daily basis and we shouldn’t take it for granted.

8. I’m looking for an improved economy. It’s hard for me to use my nursery economic index yet because it’s early but so far so good. The stock market is looking strong, domain sales are going well, and the winter was mild. Don’t take for granted what a mild winter can do for an economy. The economy is based on people spending money and when weather is cold and snowy they don’t spend as much. We had none of that this year. The money that was spent was reinvested and put back to work. I think businesses, including domain sales are going to be strong this year.

9. I love Pinterest. You’ve heard me say it a few times this week. It is such a perfect place for gardeners. It’s probably my favorite new product in years. As Jerry said, follow me for the garden pictures, stay for the hot pictures of athletic women

10. Elliot had a nice post and I have to add a little to it. I have had arguments with many people about this. It doesn’t matter what you pay for something as long as you can get the margins or returns that you want when you sell it. Sure, getting it as cheap as possible is the goal but as long as you can resell it at profit then you have a business. In some businesses they set their prices based on margin so they actually bring more profit dollars to the bottom line if they pay more and sell it. Long story short, figure out what you can sell something for first and then try and get that product as cheap as you can. I guess that’s a sales side model vs cost based but a good buy is not a good buy if you can’t sell it.

It’s always been a joke, but that’s why names that hit other aftermarket platforms hide whois. If someone’s letting a $10,000 domain name expire and you can identify who that person is, what happens next isn’t much of a ‘shock’.

Sometimes, the reason an expensive domain is left to drop is that the person died. That was the case with JackRussells.com, last year. The original registrant died in an accident and apparently didn’t bother notifying his family about his domain holdings. That happens more than one might think. (iirc, the family wound up getting it back)

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